Big Mike Cooks!: Chili

I'm getting ready to go to archery elk camp. We're going to spend a week camped with a bunch of folks, a few of which will actually be elk hunting. Most of my time will be spent reading, napping, hiking, and of course eating, which means camp cooking. Stay tuned for some dutch oven cooking recipes here on my blog in a couple of weeks. For now, you will have to make do with my chili recipe, which I am preparing in advance for elk camp.

If you are a chili purist, then you probably won't be a fan of my chili. For one thing, it has beans in it. My apologies if this offends anyone, but I like beans. I also like the combination of taste and texture that beans add to the meat and seasonings. Neither is my chili completely "scratch" chili. I use store-bought beans, instead of homemade beans. I like the Ranch-Style Beans, because they contain some chili sauce, which lends to the flavor. I'm all about taste, and I don't mind taking a short cut or two in my cooking either. Call me easy... I don't mind.

Here are all of the ingredients except the meat.

You will also need a large pot, preferrably a heavy dutch oven. I have a couple of these... the primo kitchen dutch oven... Le Creuset. I highly recommend you invest in one. This is my large one, cause I'm gonna make a bunch of chili today.

I am using six pounds of 80% lean ground beef. I know that's alot, feel free to cut the quantities down.

Dump all of the ground meat into the pot.

Brown and drain the fat.

Add a chopped onion.

Then add chili powder, cumin, garlic (I know that wasn't shown... I forgot), salt, pepper. I'm not going to tell you quantities on any of these seasonings, it is to taste. You're taste is not my taste, so figure it out for yourself.

It oughta look something like this after you stir in the spices. If it aint red, then you need to quit being a wimp and add some more chili powder. If you're concerned about heat, add paprika instead of more chili powder. You will get color and mild flavor without adding heat.

Next add the three large cans of Ranch Style beans, a large can of diced tomatoes and two or three tablespoons worcestershire sauce.

Then add two beers to the pot. I'm using dark beer, but use whatever you have.

We're almost done! Now for my favorite part. Give her a good sqirt of hot sauce. You can use whatever type of red chili sauce that you like. I like this stuff. It's slightly sweet and good on everything except chocolate cake... hmmm, might need to try that. We go thru about a case of this stuff a year.

Now you stir and wait. Let it cook on medium heat for an hour, and then turn it down and let it simmer for another hour or two. You want it to reduce and thicken. It will darken in color and become rich and thick.